The Transition: The Way Ahead

The most important outcome of the election was not the victory of Donald Trump, important though that is. The most important outcome was that ordinary Americans discovered they can take their country back. Regardless of where the Trump administration goes, they will not forget they have that power. On the contrary, they will use it again and again. Nothing the Left can do will change that.During and shortly after the election, I was traveling in the old Confederacy. There was a real sense of joy at Trump's success. A black cloud, the cloud of political correctness, had long weighed Dixie down. On November 9 it lifted. Southerners saw and talked about the difference. Retailers told me business picked up sharply after the vote. Cultural pessimism had been replaced with optimism. The future was no longer fated to be a slow death by drowning in the sludge of cultural Marxism.Conservatives need to remind ourselves that we do not know what we voted in. Hillary was a guarantee of more of the same. Trump represents the possibility of change and the possibility of the right changes. But at the moment that is all we have: possibilities.The Republican Establishment is attempting to reverse its defeat by infiltrating its people into the Trump administration. Occasionally that makes sense. Reince Priebus may be a good choice for White House chief of staff if his job is working with Congress. He is a poor choice if he is expected to recommend policies. Stephen Bannon is a superb choice; hopefully he will be the top policy person. General Mike Flynn is ideal for National Security Advisor; he has written about Fourth Generation war. The idea of John Bolton as Secretary of State is appalling, as he is a leading neo-con.Some of Trump's policies, as laid out during the campaign, should change. The deal with Iran is the best we could get. Tearing it up would put us on the course for a war with Iran, which would undermine the essence of Trump's appeal on foreign policy, i.e., no more stupid wars. On the other hand, Trump has done as he promised and reached out to Russia and China. We need both as allies against Fourth Generation forces everywhere.It is too early to know whether the Establishment's attempt to win by infiltration will succeed. The people closest to Trump seem aware the attempt is being made. To defeat it, they will have to turn to talent from outside the beltway, as Trump promised to do during his campaign. That may see some unconventional choices for high offices. So much the better. The Establishment regards all high offices as its birthright. It is time it learned otherwise.What may be the most important task facing President Donald Trump receives little attention. That task is taking over the Republican Party and remaking it into a genuine conservative party; Old Right, not Establishment Right. If Trump does that and couples it with an anti-Establishment policy agenda, his victory could usher in a permanent Republican majority.But if he fails on either or both counts, his victory will remain immensely important because traditional Americans have learned they can win elections. That potential, which was proved against all the advice and predictions of the political class, will not end with Trump. It will draw other leaders, leaders who will succeed in redrawing the political map. Both here and in Europe, where the dominance of a Globalist, culturally Marxist New Class seemed inevitable, politics have come alive with possibilities. We live in interesting times.